Unexpected Turns
by x-MarsBar
Summary: A sudden, bold, and unexpected question doth many times surprise a man and lay him open. Set during and after "The Baby in the Bough". Slightly OOC.


**Disclaimer: **I _still_ don't own them!

* * *

"Phalanges! Phalanges, phalanges, phalanges! Dancing phalanges!"

Baby Andy stared up at Brennan as she waved her fingers in front of his face and let loose a cross between a giggle and a gurgle. Brennan smiled down at him and brushed her fingers against the soft hair on his head as she glanced up and towards the trailer, hoping Booth would emerge soon. She really had no will to actually leave him but the fact that there was a baby there and she had made him a promise made her anxiety go through the roof. Andy let out a small screech beside her and she turned her attention back to him.

"I'm sorry, Andy. Once Aggravating Uncle Booth gets back, we can get you to Angela and she can tell me how to change you, unless Booth would do it..." She quirked a brow at the baby and pursed her lips. "How about we ask him when he gets back?"

The baby continued to stare at her and she just watched him as well. "You know, I've never really liked children. Not that I don't like you, just children in general. You're too cute not to like," she said in a baby voice as she tickled his belly. Andy squirmed in his car seat and she gave him a tiny smile. "We'll find out who hurt your mother, and then we'll see what we're going to do with you."

Brennan couldn't bear the thought off sending this tiny child into the foster care world. She had seen it herself, had gone through it, and she didn't want to have Andy go through it. The three years that she was in the care system was pure hell, she couldn't imagine what the next seventeen years would be like for the baby currently shifting restlessly before her.

There was a tap on the glass causing Brennan to look up, and her brow furrowed as she took in the man in handcuffs beside her partner.

* * *

"Booth?" Brennan stepped into his office, Andy perched on her hip. She watched her partner glance up from his computer and motion them in. She set the diaper bag down on one of the seats before she took the other one for herself. She set Andy on her lap and waited for Booth to finish up whatever it was he was working on.

"What's up, Bones?" He gave the keyboard one last dramatic stroke and gave the woman and child in front of him his full attention. He reached his arms out across his desk and Brennan stood to hand the baby over to Booth. Once she was certain he had a tight grip on the baby, she let go and took her seat once again.

"Did you talk with Meg's friends? The couple she left Andy to."

Booth bounced Andy on his knee, keeping an arm wrapped around his tiny torso to rid any chances of the baby falling. "Yeah, they said that they would love to take him in, but they're trying to get their financial situation together first. Said they would call back in a couple of days. Which means..." He turned his head to look down at the baby. "We're stuck with you for a few more days, kid."

Brennan just nodded and kept her face neutral. Her chest constricted painfully at the thought of having to give Andy away. "You know, if they can't afford to care for Andy, I could take him in," she rushed out in a single breath. She looked up and her blue eyes locked with Booth's startled brown ones.

"Whoa, hold on a second! _You_ want to take in a baby? You were reluctant to even care for him while we waited for the key. What gives?"

"Well, I have the money to support Andy, and I have more than enough room." Brennan shrugged as she watched Andy tug at Booth's tie.

"Bones, taking care of a baby takes more than just having money and the room. He's not a pet. You can't just let him run free in your apartment and leave him bowls of water and food while you're working."

"I know that, Booth! But I've become attached to him and, well, I know that with your help I can do it. I know I can be a good mother to Andy."

"I don't know, Bones. I mean, I know that you could be an amazing mother for this little boy, but those people really want him. There's a big chance that they're going to get him." Booth watched Brennan, his brows furrowed as she shifted in her seat. He really wished that Sweets was here for once. He really wanted to know what was going on inside that beautiful, genius mind of hers.

"But there's also a chance that they won't, right?"

"I guess, but don't get your hopes up. I'd hate to see your heart break if they come to get him," Booth said. His voice was quiet and Brennan just nodded, too afraid to read into the sudden change of his tone.

"I think I should go on and take Andy home. It's late and I need to put him to bed." Brennan stood up and grabbed the diaper bag in the next seat. She slipped the light blue strap over her shoulder and waited for Booth to take to his own two feet and come around to hand the baby over.

Once Andy was safely in his partner's arms, Booth let his hands slide into the pockets of his slacks. "You have everything you need, right?"

"Yes, Angela even taught me how to put pillows around him to keep him from rolling off my bed. We'll be fine, Booth."

He just nodded. "Call me if you need anything. Whenever you want to; I'll be there in a flash."

"That's impossible. Nothing can travel faster than the speed of—"

"Goodnight, Bones." He smiled at her and waved.

Brennan gave him a tiny smile in return. "Goodnight, Booth." She lifted Andy's tiny arm and gave it a small wag in an attempt to get him to wave at Booth. The baby instead let out an unsatisfied screech and Brennan winced. She gave him a quick wave and Booth watched as she made her way through the office and out of the FBI bullpen.

* * *

Brennan leaned back into the chair as she listened to her lawyers talk with Caroline. Brennan was completely sure of what she wanted, and she was going to fight as hard as she had to to gain legal custody of Andy.

"There is absolutely no reason why Dr. Brennan should not be able to apply to legally adopt this child. She has cared for him the past week as they solved his mother's murder and as we all waited for another couple, the Grants, to come forward. They haven't and Dr. Brennan has," the lawyer argued and Caroline nodded as the waited for the judge to say something.

Brennan wrung her hands nervously under the table as the judge cleared his throat and sat up straighter. "Well, since the people that the child was handed over to are unable to provide for him, he would normally be given to Family Services. Under special circumstance in this case, I don't see why Dr. Brennan can't put in the necessary paperwork."

Brennan let out a sigh of relief and smiled widely at Caroline, her lawyer and finally the judge. "Thank you so much."

"Not a problem, chère. Agent Booth put in a good word for you too, you might want to thank him. You might also think on how to repay him," Caroline gave her a suggestive quirk of her brow as she left the room. Brennan simply watched after her, a confused look on her face. She turned around to gather her things and quickly left as well.

She needed to find Booth.

* * *

Brennan finally caught up to him in the Jeffersonian, where he was discussing something with Hodgins. They were both standing over a new body on the platform, so she quickly flashed her identification into the scanner and headed over to them.

"Hey, Bones! How'd it go?" Booth asked as she approached them. She grinned at him and threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly as she felt his hands fall onto her waist.

"They're letting me fill out the paperwork necessary for adopting him. Caroline told me that you gave them a good report," she said quietly as she finally released him, only after Hodgins cleared his throat dramatically.

"Congratulations, Bones. I know how much Andy means to you now and, well, you have the money, room and the love to take him in. He's a lucky kid to have someone like you worrying over him. You don't need to thank me."

"I do. Without what you said, I might have not been granted the adoption papers. That's why I wanted to ask you...if you would sign off as his legal guardian as well," she lowered her voice until it was almost a whisper. As the last words hung in the air, she made her way quickly across the platform and off of it. Booth quickened his pace to catch up.

"You want me to adopt Andy? With you?"

"Well, I think it makes sense. If you're going to be helping out, I'd like for you to be there legally, especially if something were to happen to me. Andy will have you. I know you have your hands full with Parker and trying to get in as much time with him as you can, and I will completely understand if you don't want to adopt Andy. I was just laying the offer out for you. Just in case."

She looked up at him and quickly fluttered her eyes away.

"That's a lot to take in, Bones. I...I don't know what to say. I'd have to ask Parker and think about it."

"Of course," Brennan's eyes widened slightly and she nodded her head, "I understand that." There was a small silence between them as they both tried to process the information. "I need to go finish up some paperwork."

"When do you sign the papers?" He asked quietly, running a hand over his face.

"Friday."

Booth nodded. "I have to think this through. I'll...yeah, see you tomorrow, Bones. Goodnight."

She nodded her head in return and turned on her heel.

* * *

"I need you to sign here and here. This is simply to state that Andy is in your custody under federal law and that his surname will be changed from Taylor to Brennan. This other form is an agreement to allow the Grants to see him under your supervision and your schedule. They were thrilled to find out that you did this, by the way," the lawyer told Brennan. The pen in her hand was shaking and her leg was bouncing as she cast quick glances over to the officer holding Andy. In only a matter of minutes, Andy would officially become hers. He would be her son and she would be his mother.

She was going to be someone's mother.

The thought made her head spin momentarily but was quickly brought back to the present as the papers were shoved under her nose. She splayed them out before her, quickly scanning them, just to double check that this was all real and legit. She let out a deep breath and placed the pen the the paper. The pen moved on its own, it seemed, as it placed her signature on all the documents that said it was necessary.

As soon as she was done, she pushed the papers back and the officer brought Andy over. Brennan gladly took the small child into her arms and placed a tender kiss on his forehead. "Andy Brennan," she whispered against his hair.

The lawyer was about to start gathering the papers when the door was burst open and Booth stepped through. "Wait, wait." He tried to catch his breath, as it was obvious he had run some to get there, and he straightened his tie. "Can I still sign the adoption papers?" He looked from Brennan's lawyer to the judge at the front of the table before looking down at Brennan herself and the child in her arms.

"Of course," she whispered as she looked up at her lawyer. She nodded at the older man and he spread out the papers again. He went through the process of explaining the documents again, this time to Booth, and Brennan watched as he scribbled his own signature beside hers on all of the papers. "I was wrong before...Andy Brennan-Booth." She said quietly as she pulled herself back to look down into the baby's dark blue eyes.

Booth set down his pen and the judge collected the files before giving him a quick pat on the back and then laid a gentle hand on Brennan's shoulder. "Congratulations." With that, he left the room, along with Brennan's lawyer.

Once they were alone with Andy, their child (the thought of sharing a child with Brennan sent _Booth's_ head spinning), he placed his hand on her shoulder.

"I didn't think you would come," she admitted as she looked up at him.

"I was still debating, but then Park called and asked me when he would see you and when I was going to be introducing him to his new brother. I cracked. I want to be here for you, Andy and Parker. I wanted to adopt him, because I care about him and you." He pulled the chair beside Brennan back and sat down.

"Thank you, Booth. It really means a lot to me."

He watched her play with Andy's fingers for a while, a comfortable silence falling between the three. "Don't thank me. It means a lot to me too. I'm not doing this out of obligation, I really do want to be here."

Brennan looked up and smiled at him. "Good."

He smiled back before the two turned to the baby in her arms. "Brennan-Booth, huh? Why couldn't it be Booth-Brennan?"

"What?" She looked up, caught off guard. "Well, I'm the one that brought up the idea of adopting him. It makes sense my name goes first."

He laughed and shook his head. "Well, isn't it tradition for the man's name to go first?"

She glared at him but her frown turned into a small smile as he held his hands up in defense. "Okay, okay. Brennan-Booth."

* * *

**A little OOC, but I think it was necessary for the plot. Review and let me know what you think!**


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